DIA launches custom-order, museum-quality reproductions of collection

Museum-quality, digital reproductions of pieces in the Detroit Institute of Arts collection can be ordered at Diashop.org or through a kiosk in the museum’s gift shop.

Have you always dreamed of owning your own Renoir?

Now you can.

The Detroit Institute of Arts has launched customer-order sales of museum-quality, digital reproductions of pieces in its collection.

The move will make its collection more accessible to patrons, while also providing a new revenue stream for the museum, officials said.

The DIA has long offered matted prints in its museum gift shop, but lack of inventory and tight quarters allowed it to offer only a dozen or so at a time. And those offerings were typically limited to Diego Rivera's uber-famous "Detroit Industry" or pieces featured in special exhibitions at the museum, said Eric Huck, director of retail operations for the DIA.

But a new partnership with Austin, Texas-based Bentley Global Arts Croup LLC is enabling the museum to offer patrons an expanded number of custom-order reproductions in all sizes and price points.

The images come on paper or canvas, from a 12x12 printed on paper for about $40 to a 72-inch square, matted and framed with your choice of frame for around $600, Huck said. They can be ordered at Diashop.org or through a kiosk in the museum's gift shop.

"This is really just giving (patrons) access to the art work in a real, usable way," Huck said.

At the same time, the DIA, which is operating on a $37 million budget this year, is also looking for revenue opportunities to help fund the museum, he said.

Print sales have always been strong in the museum's gift shop, said Christine Kloostra, executive director, marketing and communications for the DIA.

"The sense was if we could expand these offerings, we could expand sales," she said.

In the two weeks the museum has been promoting the custom-order reproductions, it's taken 25 orders for them. Most have come from Michigan, but there are also orders coming in from places including Chicago and California, Huck said.

Museum interest in offering arts patrons the museum-quality reproductions is growing nationally, he said, noting that Bentley is now providing customer-ordered reproductions for about 15 museums across the country.